Clarifying TI features, operation and use

1.Some folks on the forum have recommended NOT creating a SecureZone (SZ) anywhere. I was considering using the SZ feature for one of two equal-sized partitions on a third disk that will be dedicated to storing images of my entire boot RAID 1 array. If this separate non-removable internal drive (that is dedicated for storing images of the RAID array) does not use a SZ, aren’t those images potentially vulnerable to viruses, hackers, etc.? On the other hand, what are the problems that the use of SecureZone might introduce?

2.I’ve seen reference on this forum to major problems that might occur with the use of Startup Recovery Manager (SRM) in TI, such as affecting the boot disk/array's MBR. What are the pros and cons to using the SRM? More importantly, must I use SRM if I want to use TI's SecureZone feature?

3.Some folks on the forum seem to prefer creating backup images using the rescue CD, while others seem happy doing so from within Windows. Besides the from-within-Windows-only abilities a) to schedule backups to be performed automatically and b) to perform incremental backups, are there any other pros and cons to each approach? Sounds like creating from rescue CD is potentially less problematic as long as I’m prepared to initiate a full backup while at the PC. What am I missing?

4.My understanding is that if the full image, or one of previous incrementals, gets corrupted you will not be able to restore all the subsequent incrementals. Am I being paranoid by therefore preferring to do full rather than incremental backups?

5.Is it generally advisable to verify all MD5 checksums on all backups manually using say the MD5Sum utility available from TI, or can I use TI’s built-in Check Image utility to verify that for me? My understanding is that verifying MD5 checksums is only valid when the image has been backed up to a hard drive, and not to optical media that required spanning. Am I correct? If not, could someone clarify/elaborate?

On the other hand, what are the problems that the use of SecureZone might introduce?

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No redundancy. It is not introduced by the SZ per se, but rather by the simple fact that the SZ is part of your system drive, thus if your HDD fails, so does the image stored in the SZ. I backup to my 2nd physical drive, which affords me a higher level of redundacy.

If the SZ was on a separate HD such as I proposed originally, then I would like to understand how our approaches differ.

My main array consists of 2 HDs in RAID 1 mode, PLUS I plan backups to a 3rd (non-RAID) HD.

This 3rd HD is split into two partitions:
1. partition A could be used as a SZ (my understanding is that the SZ did not have to be located on the system HD.)
2. while partition B would be used as place to store 2000MB "segments" of the entire image of the RAID array.

Partition B would have two purposes:
1) to allow me to either restore directly (hoping that it had not been corrupted in any way) and
2) to burn images of the RAID array to DVD using Nero InCD.

I believe this approach would address redundancy concerns. Am I still missing something?

Thanks to all that have replied. Welcome additional comments on this AND my original post.
-Rhino

1. Acronis Secure Zone allows you to store images safely. There shouldn't be any problems with it providing you perform all the operations in theway described in the User's Guide.

2. Acronis Startup Recovery Manager allows you to boot the Acronis True Image even if you cannot boot into Windows. It does changes the MBR so please make sure you haven't got any other software that change MBR as well.

3. Acronis exclusive technology allows you to create images under Windows without having to reboot the computer. You may find more details about this technology in the following article:

More importantly, must I use SRM if I want to use TI's SecureZone feature?

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No. You can create and use a Secure Zone without activating the SRM. Although not applicable in your case, I would advise anyone against activating the SRM if the SZ is created on a removable/external HD that is likely to be disconnected or switched off when the system powers up (in which case the system will refuse to boot!).